Adjustable capsule-filling device



R. S. RITIENBRY. ADJUSTABLE CAPSULE FILLING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. I2, 1.920.

1,371,264. Patented Mar. 15, 1921.

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UNITED STATES ROM S. RI'ITENBRY, OF BAILEY, NORTH CAROLINA.

ADJUSTABLE CAPSULE-FILLING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 15, 1921.

Application filed November 12, 1920. Serial No. 423,714.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROM S. RITTENBRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bailey, in the county of Nash and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and useful Adjustable Capsule-Filling Device, of which the following is a specification.

It is the object of my invention to provide a capsule filling device for the use of druggists, which has means for quick and convenient adjustment to adapt it 'for capsules of different heights and which is also adapted for filling a plurality of capsules of different sizes.

I attain the objects of my invention by the device shown in the accompanying rawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed sectional view, partly in elevation, on line 33 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailed sectional view through one of the capsules positioned for filling in the device.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in each of the several views.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I provide a suitable base board 1, spaced above which is mounted a capsule filling plate 2 of suitable material, preferably marble, resiliently supported by springs 8, which are coiled about the bolts 7, positioned at the four corners of the members 1 and 2, and provided with suitable nuts 9. Bolts 7 are rigidly mounted in base board 1 and loosely mounted in top plate 2. The plate 2 is provided with a series of large capsule receiving openings 3; a second series of smaller capsule receiving openings 4; a third series of still smaller capsule receiving op nings 5, and a fourth series of very small capsule receiving openings 6. Rigidly mounted in the center of the base board 1, I provide a bolt 10, on the threaded end of which is mounted an adjustable thumb nut 11, bearing on Washer 12 and which isused in adjusting the height of plate 2 relative to base board 1, to adapt it to the particular size of capsules which are to be filled. The bolt 10 extends loosely through the top plate 2, to permit of the required movement of the top plate 2 relative to the base board 1.

In using the device, the thumb nut 11 is adjusted to regulate the height of plate 2 above base board 1, so that the capsules C to be filled will have their upper edges even with the top of the member 2. The powder is emptied into the capsules and it is leveled down with a suitable instrument, this operation being accomplished in about 30 seconds and filling all of the capsules at once. The top plate 2 is then lowered, by turning down the thumb nut 11, thus bringing the level of the plate below the tops of the capsules so that the other half of the capsule may be put on and the capsule readily removed. The capsules are filled in a fraction of the time required by the old method of filling practically one by one; and the device permits of the filling of capsules of various sizes with the same apparatus.

What I claim is:-

In an adjustable capsule filling device, the combination of a base board, a capsule holding plate mounted in spaced relation from the base board, a plurality of bolts rigidly mounted in the base board and loosely mounted in the top plate, said bolts being positioned in the corners of the aforesaid members, springs resiliently supporting the top plate in spaced relation to the base board said springs being coiled about the aforesaid bolts, a thumb nut for adjusting the height of the top plate, and a bolt centrally positioned in the base plate and extending through the top plate on which the thumb nut is mounted, the top plate having a series of openings of suitable sizes for'receiving capsules.

ROM S. RITTENBRY. 

